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“In fact, we might not even wait until then. There’s still time for me to get into the BBC and delete all the other shows on the big BBC server.

“They’ll all be there, Only An Excuse and all the rest of it.

“I know folk at the BBC. The security guards and all the codes. If I can get us in there and delete all that, they’ll have no choice but to put us on at Hogmanay.

“It’ll be us and maybe an old Rocky film or something.”

Whether or not he pulls off his Hogmanay heist, Rab will be teaming up with comedy partner Iain for more collaborations.

They’re set to tour their 2017 Glasgow Comedy Festival show Uncles around Scotland in the springtime.

Jolly Boy John will be making an appearance

And they have enjoyed the experience of hitting the road with their Burnistoun stage show so much that they’re now open minded about the prospect of bringing it back to telly. That’s a major turnaround from their initial “no plans for more” approach when the series ended in 2012.

Rab said: “When we started doing the live stuff, it sort of made us realise that there were a lot of people out there who liked seeing it.

“It’s one thing doing stuff for telly but it’s different when you see folk turning up and enjoying the live shows.

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“There’s been breathing space between this special and the last one, and now we’re feeling good to go with more of it.”

Following their last special, which saw them explore Burnistoun through the cock-eyed prism of a night out, they’re now looking at the peculiar pocket of Glasgow as it goes to work.

Rab said: “It felt like a natural thing.

Jackie Bird should watch her back as Rab Florence has big plan

“The day to day, Burnistoun in the workplace. The last special had a slightly documentaryish feel to it and we felt we wanted to bring things back to an old-fashioned silliness. Plus, there’s plenty of stuff you can write about in workplaces.”

Viewers can expect a Burnistoun taxi driver sitting a patter test, rubbish polis McGregor and Toshan visiting a school, and the brilliant “up eh road..” guys raging at the portfolio career generation working from their laptops in cafes.

Rab added: “We’ve managed to crowbar everybody in there. Even Jolly Boy John, a guy who cannae actually work. Iain found a way to get him in.”

The pair have been writing sketches for almost 20 years, starting out on projects such as Chewin’ The Fat in the late 90s, having worked their way through youth theatre together.

The working relationship has helped them forge a unique dynamic.

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Rab said: “It has never really felt like a work relationship. It has always been more like we’re brothers than anything else. We don’t even really need to run that much stuff by each other. We very rarely swing any surprises on each other.

“It has been a long tie and we’ve not had any falling out. The agent handles all the business.

“We listen to advice and don’t get too power-crazy or stressed out.

“We are happy to let people who know what they’re doing do what needs to be done.

“We just get on with writing and performing the comedy.

“You don’t want to get too involved in all of that stuff because you can start to lose the love for what you’re doing a bit. Neither of us are businessmen.”

If Rab sees Iain as his brother, he sees co-star Louise Stewart as his niece. Because she is.

Robert Florence with niece Louise Stewart (Image: Paul Chappells)

Louise said; “I’ve grown up with Rab and I’ve known Iain since we were kids. We went to the same drama school – he played my dad in Peter Pan years ago.

“I never think of Robert as my uncle. He has no authority over me whatsoever. In fact, I’m in charge. Working on Burnistoun is basically like working with a bunch of people who take the p**s out of each other badly.

“Any time I manage to get through a scene without laughing is a achievement.”

Louise is back in ‘toun with original cast members Kirsty Strain and Gerry McLaughlin.

Rab said: “It was great to have Kirsty back because she was unable to do Burnistoun’s Big Night.”

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And as well as that Hogmanay slot, Rab has one more ambition – to bring original cast member Richard Rankin back from the stellar TV career which has seen him appear in American TV series American Odyssey and Outlander.

“If we do another one we’re going to work in a way to get Richard back.

“He’s so busy I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in the new Star Wars film. But we’ll need to get him soon – we’ll probably not be able to afford him.”